Fine Dining & Everything that Goes into it: Chapter 7

If you’re running a true Fine Dining restaurant, you’re spending the money to make sure that the food Chef has worked so hard on preparing is plated on deserving dinnerware. You can’t deliver a truly amazing experience if all your food comes out on standard diner-like semi-ceramic plates and bowls. Same goes for glasses and cutlery. Your typical ‘single’ and ‘double rocks’ glasses don’t belong behind the bar of a restaurant of such a high level. Also, you shouldn’t have one glass that’s used for everything. Don’t even get me started on wine glasses; if you don’t want to shell out 60 bucks a glass, then perhaps you should rethink charging people $18 at a time. A huge part of wine consumption is about the glass you’re drinking out of. You can tell when you’re holding a properly made, expensive glass, which actually feels good in your hand as opposed to a cheap one that feels like it wouldn’t break if you threw it across the room. Similar concept goes for silverware. It should be heavy and defined; it shouldn’t look like it’s been picked up at Walmart on clearance. Also, ‘roll-ups’ are not and should never be a thing in a Fine Dining restaurant. Every fork, knife and spoon should have a home and they should all be distributed accordingly one by one depending on what the guest is having; appetizer fork and knife where applicable, followed by dinner silverware, etc. You don’t plop a rolled up set in front of them and leave it at that; that’s just lazy. All that stuff is important and quite frankly expensive, so if you’re going to nickel and dime everything then perhaps you should rethink the entire premise of your restaurant, get some red and white checkered table cloths and call it what it is; your local Mom & Pop joint.